Part One

In book 17 of  The Odyssey by Homer that i read for my world literature class there was lots that happened that i wanted to write about. In the beginning  Telemachus leaves Odysseus with Eumaeus and he goes to his palace. He reunites with his mother Penelope and the nurse Eurycleia. When he sits down to eat with Penelope he tells his story of what happened and what he heard about Oddyseus in Pylos and Sparta but does not tell her that Odysseus is home. Theoclymenus then swears that Odysseus is in Ithaca at the time being . While all this is going on Eumaeus and Odysseus headed out to meet up with Telemachus in the palace. On the way to the palace they run into Melanthius who says mean things like "one scum nosing another scum along, dirt finds dirt by the will of God- it never fails!" (236-237). He also kicks Odysseus and knocks him off his path. I think that Melanthius is a cruel person for doing this Odysseus in no way deserved to get kicked he did nothing wrong. Could someone like Melanthius change? I think its possible but it would take a whole lot for him to change and a very long time. When Odysseus gets to the palace he gets the same welcome there. The suitors give him food but aren't happy about it and Antinous insults him and tells everyone not to give him food. "What spirit brought this pest to plague our feast? Back off! Into the open, clear of my table, or you, you'll soon land in an Egypt, Cyprus, to break your heart! (492-495). Odysseus cant hold back any longer and insults him as well but when he insults him Antinous hits him with a stool. I think this takes a lot of self control for Odysseus to not fight back when he is abused twice. I think that the biblical idea of  "turning the other cheek" is something that he had to do. Even the suitors thought that it was too much. Penelope hears about the rudeness and asks to speak to the beggar herself. Penelope wants information about Odysseus and wants to question the beggar. Odysseus doesn't want the suitors to see him talking to the Queen though so Eumaeus tells Penelope that " he talks to the point, he thinks as the next man would who wants to dodge their blows, that brutal crew. He tells you to wait here till the sun goes down. It's better for you, my queen. Then you can talk with the man in private, hear the stranger's news" (648-652). In the end of the book Eumaeus leaves Odysseus with Telemachus and the suitors.

GQ 1. Why doesn't Odysseus fight back when Antinious hits him?
       2. Did the suitors change from book 16 or are they the same?

Part Two

One of the reoccurring literary devices that Homer uses is epic machinery. In book 17 it appears once again when Telemachus is telling the story of his journey to Penelope his mother. Homer uses this literary device to make the reading more interesting especially when Oddyseus is retelling his stories in earlier books. Another literary device i found in book 17 is foreshadowing. "With that he entered the well-constructed palace, strode through the halls and joined the proud suitors. But the dark shadow of death closed down on Argo's eyes the instant he saw Odysseus, twenty years away" (357-360).  Homer is forshadowing that there will be death that is coming up. The deaths that will be coming up are the deaths of the suitors that Odysseus is planning to kill with Telemachus. A topic that we learned about earlier in the book is the host guest relationship. While Odysseus was on his journey there were a few good hosts that would lavish him with gifts and give him and his men great feasts. There were also terrible hosts that didn't want Odysseus and his men on their islands. In book 17 Odyssues in his disguise as a beggar gets hosted  well by Eumaeus. But when he goes to his palace and he begs for food there he gets bitter reactions and responses. The suitors go against the guest host relationship especially Melanthius and Antinous who hurt the guest.

GQ 1. How do the literary devices Homer uses make the book more interesting?
       2. Why does Antinous go against the guest host relationship?

Part Three

In book 17 i noticed three themes. One of the themes I noticed is mind over strength. Although strength is very important concept sometimes one needs more than just strength. This is portrayed in book 17 when Odysseus wants to take down the suitors that are occupying his palace. Odysseus knows he is no match for all the young and strong suitors so he uses his wits to devise a plan with his son Telemachus. By using a disguise they do not even know that he is there and he can take them all down. This ties into another theme in the book disguises. By being disguised as a beggar Odysseus can plan what he wants to do without them finding out who he is. The only person that knows the disguise is Telemachus. Odysseus uses his disguise to distinguish those who actually love him. When he arrives to the palace his old dog Argos is one of the first to recognize him while disguised. Also, by asking each suitor for scraps of food he determines which ones are good and which ones are bad. He figures out through begging that Antinous is one of the people he wants to kill. This brings us to the last theme i found which was food. Whenever food is brought up there seems to be a negative consequence following. For example when Odysseus's men eat the food of the lotus, when his men slaughter the Sun's flocks,  When Scylla swallows six of his men, and the Cyclops eats humans. All of these brought negative consequences when food was mentioned. In this book there is a negative consequence too. When Odysseus in his disguise begs for a scrap of food from Antinous he ends up taking a hit from him. Antinous does not want to give him even a little scrap of food so Odysseus insults him and in return Antinous tosses a stool and hits him square in the back. When I read this it made me think of a article i read a few months ago about an incident happening in Sri Lanka. There were innocent beggars being randomly killed in horrible ways which is really cruel. Here is a link to the article :

http://www.lankatruth.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5961:another-beggar-killed-killing-spree-continues&catid=35:local&Itemid=62

GQ: 1.If there was a helpless old man begging you for just a little bit of food what would you do?
        2. Are beggars harmful people that deserve to be hurt or killed?